Wyatt's Halloween Birthday Party

This year we are going to be out of town on the weekend of Wyatt's birthday.  He kept telling me that he wanted a halloween birthday party, so we decided to have an early birthday party at our house last weekend.  We had cousins and a few nieghborhood friends come.   It ended up being pretty fun.  He was very happy with his gifts, and seemed to have a good time.

This is everybody waiting to open presents.

Wyatt with his cake.

The kids playing dinosaur bingo.

Making their buckets for the pinata

Butler Orchards

They have so many "pick your own" farms and orchards out here.   For some reason, I have never taken the kids to one before.  I thought it would be fun to go and pick apples with them, but I waited too long, and missed out on all the apples.  We decided to do the pick your own pumpkin instead.  We went with some good friends of ours to a fun place called Butler Orchards.  They had a corn maze, fun slides, this huge barn full of hay that the kids loved to play in, and some other fun things for the kids.  Then we got take a hayride out to a field and pick out our own pumpkins.  Wyatt of course wanted the biggest one that he saw, but we finally talked him into a normal sized one.  It was a fun day.

Cox Farms

There is this fun place out here that is called Cox Farms that we go to each year.  The kids love it, and there are a ton of fun things to do like a haunted hayride (which isn't too haunted)  a corn maze, lots of huge slides, animals, free apples and cider, and they get to pick a pumpkin on the way out.  It was even warm for us this year.  We had a great time.

Jimmy's mom's Birthday

Jimmy's mom's birthday was on the 5th, and we all went out to the farm to help her celebrate. The kids just love going out there. There are so many fun things for them to do. We love you Margie, and hope that you had a happy birthday. We appreciate all that you do for us.

McKartnee's Joyschool

We had McKartnee's little joyschool group at our house last week. We had so much fun learning about the letter B. All four kids are just so cute and had me laughing the whole time at the little things they were saying. McKartnee gets so excited for Teusday's to come, so that she can be a big girl and go to school.

Live for the Moment

Because of the season difference between the two, this is the first season that Walker is really wearing all of Wyatt's old clothes. As I see Walker in them, it takes me back to when Wyatt was wearing them. It seems like yesterday, and it is hard to believe that four years have passed since Wyatt wore them.
I really loved general conference this weekend. It is always so inspiring. So many of the talks seemed to relate to things that I, or those close to me have been going through. I really felt a message of peace and hope for this crazy world that we live in. I loved President Monson's talk, especially when he talked about how one day we will miss all the messes and finger prints around the house. I have really been reflecting on how fast my kids are growing up lately. Wyatt will be 5 next month, and my baby isn't even a baby any more.
I feel like I get way too caught up in things that don't matter. I get frustrated when I clean the house and turn around and it is a mess again. I sometimes focus too much on my own things (like blog reading), and I don't focus as much as I should on my kids. I am not as patient as I should be, I could go on and on. I really feel like instead of focusing on these things, I need to remember how precious my kids are, and how fast my time with them will go. I feel so blessed for the opportunity that I have to be a mother, and I know that these days won't last forever. It is my goal to live in the moment, and really focus them and their needs. As I find myself getting frustrated, I am going to try to remember that these are the very things that I will miss one day.
I am very grateful that General Conference comes every six months. I always feel so motivated right afterwards, and then so ready for it to come again.

First Day of School

Yesterday and today were big days for Wyatt and McKartnee. They both started school.
McKartnee started a little joy school yesterday. Last year she had such a hard time with Wyatt going to school, that I knew that she was going to need something this year too. I talked to a few of my friends that have kids the same age. We decided to do a little joy school/play date once a week. It is pretty chill. There are only 4 kids, two boys and two girls. We are just going to focus on learning a letter a week, and do a little learning, but mostly play. She was so excited to go to school. She was so happy all morning, and wanted to get ready first thing. The only problem of the day was when she asked for her backpack. I went in and got Wyatt's old one, because I didn't buy her one. She got a little upset, because it wasn't pink, and she wanted a pink one. I talked her into taking a picture with the blue one on, but she wasn't about to take it to school with her. Even without her back pack, she had a great time.
Wyatt is going to the same preschool that he did last year. I have been so happy with it. The teacher is great. Wyatt loves her. It is through the child development course at the high school, and a lot of the girls in the class are in our ward. Wyatt was so excited to go back today. He got all ready, put his back pack on and wanted to wait outside a half hour before it was time to go. When he got home, I was asking him about his day. I asked him if it was good to see Miss Fin (Miss Finlayson, his teacher), and he said "Yes, she was so happy to see me." It is always so hard to get a lot of info out of him, but I got that they made a puppet of themselves, had cheese balls for snack time, and wrote their names. I can't believe that he is almost 5. When I looked at him today as he was waiting to go to school, he looked so grown up. It just doesn't seem possible. He is such a good kid, and I love watching all of them get so excited for all the firsts. I remember having those same feelings when I was a kid.